Why the Oilers must now overcome a daunting 2-0 deficit in Stanley Cup Final

SUNRISE, Fla. — Edmonton Oilers players have talked repeatedly about their ability to overcome adversity, highlighted by their pushing through a terrible start to the season and winning their last two playoff series after trailing.

Well, they’re about to really be put to the test now.

The Oilers are heading back to Edmonton after a second straight loss to the Florida Panthers, this time 4-1 on Monday, and with an ailing Darnell Nurse to make matters worse.

“It’s not the best situation,” Leon Draisaitl said. “We need to find our game and be better.”

Teams trailing 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final have won just five times in 54 tries. The last time there was a comeback of this nature was in 2011 when Boston defeated Vancouver.

The Oilers sure have their work cut out for them.

“It’s another opportunity for our group to come together and dig our way out,” Connor McDavid said. “It’s supposed to be hard, it’s supposed to be difficult, and I’m excited to see what our group is made of.

“I’m excited to see our group come together, I’m excited to see us fight through adversity, and I’m looking forward to people doubting us again with our backs against the wall.”

There wasn’t enough of that fight McDavid mentioned on Monday.

The Oilers forced the issue for most of Game 1 but were shut out by Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The same can’t be said about Game 2. The territorial advantage they enjoyed completely dissipated.

“They’re a good team. They won two games at home — probably one where we were right there,” winger Zach Hyman said. “This one, they deserved.”

The Oilers scored on their first shot when Mattias Ekholm came down the wing and beat Bobrovsky five-hole with the teams skating four-on-four. However, that opening salvo didn’t come until 11:17 into the game.

They didn’t generate much from there and mustered just seven shots on Bobrovsky through the first 40 minutes as part of 19 in the game.

The Panthers took over the game and were rewarded with Niko Mikkola’s tying goal in the second period and two tallies from Evan Rodrigues in the third. Aaron Ekblad had the empty netter.

“We didn’t put enough pucks on net,” defenseman Evan Bouchard said.

“They played better than we did,” Hyman said. “We weren’t playing with enough pace. They were controlling the play for the majority of the game.”

It looked like the Oilers ran out of steam, which was enhanced by an ejection and injuries.

Warren Foegele, who was moved over to third-line right wing as part of a revamped forward group, was ejected 9:21 into the first period after kneeing Panthers centre Eetu Luostarinen. Down to 11 forwards, the bottom six lines were tossed into a blender and those players largely saw their ice time slashed.

Evander Kane, dropped to Foegele’s line for Game 2, is clearly laboring and played just 10:33. Now, Nurse can be added to the walking wounded.

Nurse took a hit from Rodrigues in the corner to the left of Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner and immediately grabbed his left hip. He left the game at 8:23 of the first period. Though he returned in the second and played three more shifts, he was restricted to 4:20 in the game.

Nurse’s limited action meant Knoblauch’s bold call of removing Cody Ceci for Vincent Desharnais to skate next to Nurse never really got any traction. Bouchard (30:40) and Ekholm (24:54) saw their workload increase.

“Losing Darnell obviously wasn’t ideal early,” Bouchard said. “He’s a big part of the back end. We’ve got to find a way to step up for him.”

Nurse gutted through the 2022 playoffs with a torn hip flexor. Knoblauch said he believes Nurse will be able to play in Game 3 on Thursday. It’s hard to figure Nurse will be at close to full health if he can suit up.

For all the things working against them, the Oilers have themselves to blame for their plight, too.

They’re known as an offensive juggernaut, but their scoring punch has dried up so far as the Panthers are making things challenging from Bobrovsky on out. McDavid got an assist on Ekholm’s goal, his only point of the series. Draisaitl has yet to get on the scoresheet.

“We can certainly be better,” Draisaitl said. “It starts with me. There’s certainly a lot more to give.”

And then there’s the power play. The Oilers are 0-for-7 on the man advantage in the series. They’ve scored on just five of their last 28 chances after going 14-for-30 to start the playoffs.

“We have to work our way out of it. It always starts with work with our group,” McDavid said. “They’re a unique penalty kill, just like they’re a unique team. They’re aggressive.

“We have to have guys ready for the puck. We have to have guys making good plays. We have to string good plays together and we haven’t been able to do that.”

Chances frittered away at five-on-five in Game 2 after they produced so many in the series opener.

Add it all up and the Oilers have just one goal through 120 minutes in the series.

“You’re not going to win many games (that way),” McDavid said, stating the obvious.

“You’ve got to find a way to score,” Hyman said.

The adage is that the series doesn’t truly start until a team loses on home ice. The reality seems different here. Kane and Nurse, two of their supposed better players, being so hobbled only adds to the angst.

The Oilers wasted a chance to take a lead in the matchup by losing Game 1 when they were the better team. They were outclassed in Game 2 with the determent of the short bench and hindered skaters.

The circumstances are bleak, even with a positive spin.

“We feel we came here, and we played enough to get a split. That doesn’t always happen,” Knoblauch said. “I don’t see any reason to panic or do anything drastic.

“I don’t want to get too caught up in, ‘We’re down 2-0 and we’re in a whole lot of trouble.’ We just have to win the next game.”

As Knoblauch said, the Oilers aren’t out of it yet. But something needs to change — and quickly — for them to get back in this and have any hope of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Edmonton for the first time since 1990.

They’re clearly down, but they don’t think they’re out. They have lots of experience to draw from in that regard.

They’ve persevered through many tough tests this season. There’s no doubt about it; this one is the toughest yet.

“We’ve done it all year, but we just have to be better,” Draisaitl said. “It’s very simple. There’s nothing much more to say on that.”

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)